Halloween
by Crystal Prime
Summary: summary inside...


**A/N: **I am going to say this once and I won't say it again(until next year). I am not for Halloween as a Satanic holiday. Realize, that this holiday is the time that witches and such do some pretty dark rituals. I won't go into detail of what I know here, because people will get offended and try and say it's not true when I know it is. Like a drunk will tell a police man that they aren't drunk. I have nothing against the people, just the things they do. I do like the candy and the costumes, though I think that other stuff that most people don't know about should be left out. It is a fun holiday without that stuff. I do not celebrate Halloween as Halloween. I just call it my excuse to be in costume. This is the first year in a long time I am actually doing anything for it. Writing this story is my way of reminiscing about a childhood before I knew about that other crap. I do not condone certain things that are done on this day(I don't condone things that are done on other days either, but I don't boycott them). I only condone the costumes and the joy that comes with spoiling kids with candy.

**A/N 2: **Yes, two author notes. The above was about my views and making sure they are clear. This one is about the story. The OC in this story is Kayla Cynder(pronounced sin-der), a seventh grade science teacher who gets caught up in the Autobot-Decepticon war in a story I have had the idea for for several weeks, but haven't written it yet. It's another girl-from-our-world-gets-sent-to-their-world story, but is a little different. It's the movieverse and just fyi, in this story Sentinel Prime was convinced by Kayla to not go through with that ridiculous plan.(trust me, it's ridiculous from a scientific stand-point) I also got the crazy idea that at some point Sentinel gets stuck as a human because of an experiment gone wrong in the lab. So, he is human in this little side story to my unwritten story.

**Summary:** It's Halloween time and due to a lab accident Sentinel Prime is stuck as a human. Now he has a science teacher/liaison teaching him about a human tradition. It was hard to say 'no' to the one human he had seen something in so far.

**Halloween Fun**

Sentinel Prime had disliked the human race before, only seeing them for their flaws. Until he met one human in particular who knew more about his race than any other of her species. Not even the human boy named Sam knew as much as she did. Or at least, that's what Optimus had told him. And from the stories of shocked discovery the other Autobots had told him, it was true. He saw what they meant when she had confronted him about his plans with Megatron. She had shocked him again when she revealed what she was working on. AND made him promise not to tell anyone, as it was supposed to be a surprise. She had been hoping to get it done by something called 'Christmas'.

Intrigued, he had said he would hold off on his plans and see if her little 'project' worked. She hadn't been happy with that answer, but she accepted it. He had been observing her work the previous night when her cat had ran in, having apparently snuck in, and jumped in her way, spilling contents of beakers and cylinders. Chemicals were mixed in unexpected ways and an explosion had happened. He had moved quick enough to shield the small human from the explosion, but not that cat. He remembered seeing the devastation the femme had felt at the loss of her beloved pet and had thought that if a human was capable of feeling so much compassion for an animal then they couldn't be too bad. What neither of them had predicted was him waking up the next day as a human.

He was actually on his way to see the human femme. Thankfully it was early enough that no soldiers were around to question the existence of an unknown human male on base. Never mind the fact that they did know him and he wasn't human. Not really anyway. He was only glad that he didn't run into the human woman Director Mearing. She was an annoying human and he had even heard the human femme scientist complain about her. It seemed he was not only one the woman had been condescending toward. She had told him that the only reason she was allowed to stay on base was because the 'Cons had taken an 'annoying' liking to kidnapping her otherwise. She failed to understand why, and she didn't care. He believed it had something to do with her knowledge, or perhaps simply her closeness with the Autobots. Optimus only allowed her to leave base for her college classes she was taking.

He found the former science teacher turned part-time Human-Autobot liaison in her lab that only she and himself could access. She was in the process of cleaning up from the previous night's incident. The body of the dead cat was nowhere in sight, so he assumed she had removed its remains. What humans did with pets after they died, he didn't know and didn't truly care to. He could tell, however, that she was still upset about it. It only took a few moments for her to notice him standing there and then she just stared, her expression slowly becoming confused before slowly changing to realization.

"Sentinel?" she asked and he nodded. "What the crap?"

He couldn't help but be amused. Any of the soldiers would've cursed in this situation, yet this woman seemed to try her hardest to reframe from using those kinds of words.

"It seems the little mishap last night did more than take your pet from you," Sentinel said as calmly as he could.

"Ok, two things," Kayla said, hands going to her hips. "One, Breeze was more than just a pet to me. She was my friend. For a long time, she was my only friend. I always did have a sucky social life. And another thing, how in the name of fudgecicles did you become human? Unless that's your holoform…I know some of the Bots use one of those occasionally…when needed."

He raised his brow at her choice of words. "This is not my holoform, I assure you," he said. "It must have something to do with the explosion."

"The explosion," she said, her brow knitting in thought.

In the short time he had known the woman, Sentinel had come to recognize when she was focused on one thing and when she was focused on multiple things. Her brow tended to knit when she focused on one thing. She looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"You protected me…" she said, an almost suspicious look coming across her features. "Why?"

Sentinel sighed. He should've seen that one coming. "You are trying to help my people," he said. "The least I can do is keep you safe."

She sighed, shaking her head. "Always about your people," she said. "Don't take me the wrong way, I think it's great you care about the survival of your race. But that plan you had was totally going about the wrong way. I've already told you why, whether you choose to believe I know what I was talking about or not. I'm just saying, that maybe Cybertronians aren't the only ones worth caring about. Granted, there _are _some humans I would like to knock some sense into myself."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her statement. He had a feeling he knew exactly who one of those people were.

"But the explosion shouldn't have caused…_that_," she said incredulously, holding a hand out to indicate his current state. "That just doesn't make sense. Then again…my old friends would say the same thing about everything that's happened to me."

_This one's for the beaten down, the ones who lost their rock and roll._ Music and singing suddenly sounded from Kayla's pocket, reverberating off the high ceiling.

"Oh, sorry, a college buddy is callin'," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her cell phone. She looked at it, then at him in apology and then answered it.

"Hello?" she asked, a suspicious look on her face as she waited for an answer. "Hey Kasey, what's up?" She listened, an irritated expression taking over, making Sentinel wonder what the other person was saying. "No, Kasey, I am not coming to the Halloween party tonight. You know how I feel about this holiday and I have stuff to do here. Like three essays and a quiz. Not to mention the _other_ stuff I have to do." A pause. "No, I'm not allowed to tell you." Another pause. "I don't care. I can live without a social life."

Kayla mouthed the words 'she's crazy' to Sentinel and he found himself amused.

"I'm very happy being surrounded by Autobots, thank-you," Kayla said, her tone saying she was slightly offended at whatever the other girl said. "You better not mean it that way. You know how I feel about people ditchin' my friends." A pause and then a sigh. "Fine. But if something bad happens it's your fault." A short pause. "Yeah, ok, bye." Pause. "Alright already! Sheesh. I'll see you there in a few, ok? Ok. Bye." Pause. "Love you too, sis. Now bye!" Finally, the phone was hung up.

Sentinel raised his brow at the expression of annoyed defeat on the woman's face. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Kasey wants me to go to a Halloween party with her," Kayla said. "Apparently I don't have enough of a social life." She rolled her eyes and Sentinel got the impression that she could care less about her own social life. "So now I get to go to the mall with her and get a costume…"

"What about this predicament?" Sentinel asked.

Kayla frowned. She had been thinking about that when she had initially refused to go to the party. "I will start on finding a solution when I return," she said. She thought for a moment. "You know, this is actually a good opportunity for you to learn more about humans. You should come along."

"I don't even know what Halloween is about," Sentinel said.

"True, but neither do most people, not really," Kayla said, shrugging. "Most don't know what's really going on on this holiday. I don't really like it, because of the true reason for the holiday. I disapprove of it. I do like the part about costumes and spoiling kids with candy and making them smile. Just not the other stuff that most people don't realize."

"So, you put on costumes and hand out candy?" Sentinel asked, raising his brow. He failed to see the point of this 'holiday'.

"Pretty much, yeah," Kayla said. "Come on. Maybe you'll learn something about humans. It could be fun. Maybe. Perhaps. I dunno, I never really was a party person. I was what is referred to as a wall flower. The person in the background who goes unnoticed."

"And yet you are going?" Sentinel asked.

Kayla shrugged. "Kasey won't let me not go," she said. "I guarantee you, if I had continued to say 'no', she would fight the entire base just to get me to that party. In fact, I have a feeling many of the soldiers would _help_ her get me to that party. I have been told by several that I need to get out more. Sometimes I think they care too much."

"I have noticed that several soldiers have tried to pry you from your work," Sentinel said.

Kayla nodded and bit her lip. "It gets annoying," she said. "But they are just concerned I am overworking myself." She shook her head, a smile on her face. "I remember one time about half the human soldiers teamed up with Ratchet to get Optimus to take a much needed break. They stole all his work and locked him in his office."

"The way I hear that story, you were involved in that," Sentinel said, almost smiling.

Kayla laughed. "Yes, yes I was," she said. "I get concerned for the big guy. Even an Autobot can overwork themselves. Optimus is my friend. I care about friends, sometimes too much. Despite what many believe I do take a day off at least every two weeks. I try to get Optimus to do the same, but he won't willingly. And he also won't fall for the same thing twice…I'm starting to run out of ideas…"

Sentinel was surprised at the stubbornness the woman showed for keeping the Prime from overworking himself. He was also surprised that she actually put effort into finding a new way to get him to take a day off every two weeks. She wasn't the first to make him realize how close the humans on base were to his Autobot brethren. He still did not care for humans, though.

"So, you coming or what? I'm supposed to meet Kasey at the mall in fifteen minutes," Kayla said. "It'll probably take that long to walk there. After what happened last time, I refuse to ride in an Autobot while she's around…"

"What happened last time?" Sentinel asked, seeing the disturbed look on the woman's face.

"I will not talk about it," she said, shaking her head. "But Mirage wouldn't come near me for a week until Optimus ordered him to stop avoiding me." She shook her head. "And I've had trouble getting those mental images out of my brain."

Sentinel suddenly had doubts about going to this party with her, but went along anyway. Something kept nagging at him that he should be there, just in case. Just in case what, he wasn't sure. He knew Optimus viewed the woman as a sister and he was curious to find out why that was.

**~Two Hours Later, Kasey's Apartment~**

"I hate you," Kayla said, glaring at her college friend.

"Oh come on! I thought you would love it," Kasey said.

"My belly is showing…" Kayla said, pointing to her exposed stomach. "You know how I feel about that."

"But you're a kitty cat…" Kasey tried to redeem the fact that she forgot her friend's aversion to exposed stomachs. "And no cleavage is showing." Before her friend could possibly blow up even more on her, she had faced a wrench wielding Kayla before and didn't like it, she went off to her kitchen.

Kayla sighed and looked over to Sentinel, who was glaring at being forced into a vampire costume. He looked uncomfortable with the fake teeth, the make-up and the whole costume in general. Kayla had tried to save him from the outfit, but Kasey had refused to be overthrown in her area of 'expertise' as she called it.

"I'm sorry about Kasey," Kayla told him. "She is rather…difficult sometimes.." she held her arms out helplessly. "As you can see, I am unhappy with my costume. The best we can do is stick it out." She paused for a moment. "But don't be surprised if I hide behind you…just a heads up…Though I am very tempted now to just go back to base…"

"Don't go! I made pie!" Kasey said, re-entering with the mentioned desert in her hands.

If the cat ears on her head were real, one would've twitched in irritation. "I hate pie," she said.

"Oh," Kasey said, feeling very discouraged at her failure to know what her friend liked and disliked.

Kayla, sensing that her only friend outside of NEST was feeling bad, was quick to try to make her feel better. "It doesn't matter, I'm banned from unhealthy food anyways," she said. "After the last prank the twins pulled on Ratchet involving me and a whole slew of unhealthy snacks, the doc bot has forbidden me to eat anything that is bad for my health…" She ignored the curious look that got from her Autobot-turned-human friend.

"Aww, that means no candy," Kasey said. "And it's Halloween. Bummer."

Kayla shrugged. "It's alright," she said. "I could only handle a couple candy bars at a time anyways."

"You know, what he doesn't know won't hurt him," Kasey said, grinning slightly.

Kayla shook her head. "I made a promise," she said. "Not only do I not break promises knowingly, but Ratchet is also my friend. I will not consciously betray his trust. Even if he were to never find out."

"Stubborn," Kasey said, giving up.

"Stubborn is not always a bad thing," Kayla said, grinning.

"Whatever, let's go," Kasey said.

**~At the Party~**

When they arrived at the party, Kasey left them almost immediately to go hang with a couple of her other friends. Her intention was to force Kayla into making more friends, but the effect was simply to have said woman find a spot to the side with her companion. Always the wallflower.

Kayla sighed, crossing her arms across her stomach in an effort to hide it as she leaned against the wall next to Sentinel.

"Remind me why I came again," she grumbled to her companion.

"Because she would've dragged you here anyway," Sentinel reminded her.

"That was a rhetorical question," Kayla said. "Which means I don't really want an answer, I was just complaining." She sighed. "I am so not a social butterfly…"

"Hey sexy," a guy said, walking and interrupting the two. He was dressed as a pirate. "Wanna dance?"

Kayla had to fight to keep from twitching in irritation. "No," she said simply, moving ever so slightly closer to Sentinel for security's sake.

"Oh come on," the pirate said. "It'll be fun."

"I said no, back off," Kayla said, irritation now seeping into her voice.

The boy was about to make another move when another guy, who was dressed as a soldier, stepped in. "She said no, dude," he said. "Back off."

"Or what?" the pirate suddenly became defensive to this new guy butting in.

Kayla and Sentinel just watched as the two boys got into a staring contest. Kayla couldn't help but feel like she recognized the newcomer. He looked eerily similar to a person from a TV show her mother used to watch.

"Whatever, I'm out of here," the pirate said, throwing his hands up and stalking off.

"I do hope he's not the kind that holds a grudge and may kill you for that," Kayla said to the man in the army costume as she watched the pirate stomp off.

"I can handle it if he is," the man said.

Kayla sighed. "Well, thanks," she said. "I thought he was never gonna leave."

"He seemed rather…unpleasant," Sentinel said.

"No, really?" Kayla asked as the army man observed their conversation.

"No, I mean, like he was up to something," Sentinel said.

"All men are up to something," Kayla said. "Why do you think I'm single? It doesn't help with the costume my friend picked out for me." She sighed and gazed around. "I wonder where she got off to anyway. Drags us to a party and then ditches us."

"That's not very nice," the man, who hadn't moved on yet, said.

"No, it isn't," Kayla said. "I'm Kayla, by the way."

"Dexter," the man introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you," Kayla said. Her gaze was scanning the crowd, but she caught no sight of her friend. "I don't see her anywhere."

"Maybe you just aren't looking in the right place," Sentinel said and pointed toward the makeshift stage.

"Oh great, I see where that's going," Kayla said as Kasey said something about karaoke. "Why did I not see this one coming?"

"What?" Dexter asked.

"Me and her once helped track down a serial killer," Kayla said. "Part of the mission required us to sing in a bar. Ever since she uses every opportunity to get me to sing. I hate it. Singing is not my calling."

"You tracked down a serial killer?" Dexter asked.

Kayla nodded. "The guy had a distinct smell that my weird nose can pick up," she said. "Weird, I know, but that's me. Kasey found a lot of the evidence against him too. Pretty good for a couple former teachers going back to school."

"And now I'd like to introduce my best friend, Kayla Cynder!" Kasey said finally, after telling a story.

Kayla sighed and walked up to the stage, thinking she might as well get it over with. She had to think about a song and as she did she looked around the audience. There were several faces of people she thought she recognized from tv shows or movies, but she put it off as people in costume. Kasey was nice enough to give her a cloak someone had been willing to share and Kayla was thankful cause now she wasn't standing in front of everyone with her stomach exposed. When she picked a song, she told the DJ and began. Kasey joined her when she realized the song she had picked.

We are not blind, we know the truth

Still we don't stand, still we don't choose

We'd rather stay so comfortable

Stuck in our world, under control

We may not pull the trigger

But we stand by and watch

And pretend not to see

Silence is worse than evil done

What in the world have we become

Can't you see that

This is a war so pick your side

It's time to move, not time to hide

Don't let lies make up your mind

Cause can't you see

We're running out of time

Tomorrow will come and one day we'll see

The choices we made made history

Before it's too late, find where you stand

So use our voice while we still can

Can't you see that

This is a war so pick your side

It's time to move, not time to hide

Don't let lies make up your mind

Cause can't you see

We're running out of time

Running out of time

Running out of time

Can't you see that

This is a war so pick your side

It's time to move, not time to hide

Don't let lies make up your mind

Cause can't you see

We're running out of time

Running out of time

Running out of time

Running out of time

Unknown to Kayla, Kasey had rigged something to show a slide show of images of things that had happened so far since the Autobot-Decepticon war came to Earth. It included things that had happened to Sam, including his death, to the Bots, to Kayla, including when she got fired for her ties to the Autobots, to other humans and even some Decepticon scenes showed up in it.

The rest of the night had Kayla having to answer questions about said slide show and glaring occasionally at her friend. All in all, it was a pretty good night for Halloween. At least, Kayla thought so. The horrible costume aside at least.


End file.
